Quote Originally Posted by indysteel View Post
What's the narrowest tire you can run on your LHT wheels? Can you even run those on the Gunnar Sport you have in mind?

You will notice some difference if you were to put skinnier tires on your current wheel set, but you'll notice a heck of a lot more if you were to get a set of handbuilt 650 ccs. There is a world of difference between my handbuilts and the stock pair of Mavics that came with my Bianchi. Of course, they weren't cheap either. I'm not sure how much difference you'd feel between your current wheels and a stock factory-built set that's on the lower end of cost.

I will say this. I find swapping out wheels and/or tires between bikes to be a PITA. If I could afford a dedicated set of wheels, that's the way I would go. But the first thing you need to resolve is whether you can even run the 26s on the Gunnar.
I am trying to find out how skinny I can go with the tires for the LHT, I know I can go down at least to 1 inch (currently running 1.5 inch Conti City Contact tires)

If I were to go this route, then I would get a good set of hand-built wheels dedicated for club rides and hill training, and reserve my bomb-proof wheels for actual touring or all-day meandering. This would be less expensive than a second bike and is at least worth considering.

The smallest size Gunnar Sport does take 26 inch wheels, but I am unsure if that would fit me - the TT is 500 while the TT on my LHT is 508...but of course we are talking about a different geometry. If I take anything than the smallest Gunnar Sport size then I would have 700cc tires...